Images of plasma disruption effects in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor

Fast-framing imaging of visible radiation from magnetically confined plasmas has lately become a useful tool for both machine operation and physics studies. Using an intensified, commercial Kodak Ektapro imaging system, the effects of a plasma disruption were observed in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR). The high-energy "runaway" electrons created soon after the disruption collide with the plasma facing components damaging this surface and producing a shower of debris that traverses the toroidal vessel and "falls" over the inner bumper limiter.